IMITATION THE RATIONAL BASIS OF VOICE CULTURE
It is generally assumed by vocal theorists that the voice cannot be
trained by imitation. Browne and Behnke state this belief definitely:
"Singing cannot be learned exclusively by imitation." (_Voice, Song, and
Speech._) Having ascertained the futility of the attempt to teach
singing mechanically, it is now in order to determine the truth or
falsity of the statement that the exercise of the imitative faculty
alone does not suffice for the training of the voice.
In the first place, no one has ever thought of questioning the existence
of an instinct of vocal imitation. On the contrary, this instinct is
everywhere recognized. In childhood we learn to speak our mother tongue
by imitating the speech of those about us. "Talking proper does not set
in till the instinct to _imitate sounds_ ripens in the nervous system."
(_The Principles of Psychology_, Wm. James, New York, 1890.)
Vocal imitation would be impossible without the ability of the voice to
produce sounds in obedience to the commands of the ear. This ability the
voice normally possesses; spoken language could not otherwise exist. The
voice can imitate a wide range of sounds. If the perfect vocal tone can
be shown to be included in this range of sounds, then the voice can be
trained by imitation.
Exceptional powers of vocal imitation are sometimes developed.
Vaudeville performers are by no means rare who can imitate the tones of
the oboe, the clarinet, the muted trumpet, and several other
instruments. Imitation of the notes and songs of birds is also a
familiar type of performance. This peculiar gift of imitation results in
each case from some special structure of the vocal organs. One performer
can imitate the reed instruments, another the lighter brasses, and so
on. Just what peculiar formation of the vocal organs is required for
this type of imitative ability need not be inquired here. All that need
be noted is, that the vocal organs must be so constructed as to be able
to produce the particular quality of sound. Given this natural ability
on the part of the vocal organs, the power to produce the tone quality
is developed by repeated attempts at imitation. The possessor of the
natural gift perfects this gift by practice. For practice in the
imitation of sounds to be effective it is necessary that the ear be well
acquainted with the tone quality to be reproduced. In addition, the
practice must be guided by the performer listening closely to the sounds
produced by the vocal organs, and constantly comparing these sounds to
the tones of the instrument chosen for imitation.
This vocal imitation of instruments is not a normal ability; the tones
of the oboe and trumpet do not lie within the range of qualities native
to the normal voice. But the quality of the perfect vocal tone is
unquestionably within the range of every voice so constituted as to be
capable of artistic singing. A fine natural voice normally produces
beautiful tones. It is only with this type of voice that Voice Culture
is concerned. Such a voice must be capable of producing the perfect
vocal tone. Can it learn to produce this quality of tone by imitation?
It cannot be questioned that the faulty tones of one voice can readily
be imitated by another voice. Any one endowed with normal powers of
speech can imitate a markedly nasal speaking voice. This is equally true
of a nasal tone in singing, and of a strongly throaty tone as well. The
more marked the fault of production the more readily it is heard and the
more easily it can be imitated.
Let us imagine the case of a vocal teacher who undertakes to teach a
gifted pupil by having the pupil imitate tones of faulty production, and
gradually correcting the faults in the tones sung as a model for the
pupil. The master is of course understood to have perfect command of his
own voice. Suppose this master to begin the course of instruction by
singing for the pupil tones of exaggerated throaty quality, and bidding
the pupil to imitate these tones. Naturally, the pupil would have no
difficulty in doing so. At the next lesson the master would very
slightly improve the quality of the tones sung as a model for the
pupil's imitation. The student would listen to these tones and model his
daily practice accordingly. Just so soon as the student had succeeded in
correctly reproducing this slightly less throaty tone the master would
again set a slightly improved model.
With each successive step the master might eliminate, one by one, the
faults of his own tone-production. Following the same course, the pupil
would also gradually approach a correct model of tone. Finally, all the
faults of tone-production having been corrected, both of master and
pupil, the latter would be called upon to imitate perfect vocal tones.
It would necessarily follow either that the student would successfully
imitate the master's perfect tones or that at some point in this
progress the student's imitative faculty would be found lacking.
Could any point be located at which the student would be unable to
imitate the teacher's voice? This could certainly not be in the early
stages of the course. Any one can imitate a very bad throaty or nasal
tone. This being done, the imitation of a slightly less faulty tone
would also present no difficulty. A second improvement in the master's
model tone would again be readily imitated, and so on, with each
succeeding correction of the faults of production. When the last trace
of faulty production in the student's voice had been eliminated, he
would be singing perfect tones. It is utterly impossible to define a
point in this progress at which the pupil would be unable to imitate the
teacher's voice. If a bad fault of production can be imitated, so can a
comparatively slight fault. Further, if the pupil can correct his
pronounced faulty production by imitating a tone not quite so faulty, so
can he improve upon this tone by imitating a still better model of
production. This process of gradual improvement by imitation must be
capable of continuation until the last fault is eliminated. No limit can
be set to the ability of the voice to improve its manner of
tone-production by imitation. It must therefore be concluded that the
perfect vocal action can be acquired by imitation.
In practical Voice Culture, learning to sing by imitation means simply
the cultivation of the sense of hearing and the guidance of the voice by
the ear. In other words, those vocal theorists who insist upon ear
training commit themselves to the theory of imitative Voice Culture.
What necessity is there of mechanical management of the vocal organs if
the voice is to be guided by the ear? Even if mechanical management of
the voice were possible it would be entirely superfluous. The voice
needs no other guidance than the singer's sense of hearing.
Here another striking question is encountered: Why should the vocal
organs be thought to be unable to adjust themselves for the tone quality
demanded by the ear any more than for the pitch? No vocal theorist has
ever thought to formulate rules for securing the tension of the vocal
cords necessary for the desired pitch. This is always left to
instinctive processes. No one would ever undertake to question the
voice's ability to sing by imitation a note of any particular pitch.
What valid reason can be given for denying the corresponding ability
regarding tone quality?
Only one answer can be made to this question. The whole matter of
mechanical vocal management rests on pure assumption. No scientific
proof has ever been sought for the belief that the voice requires
mechanical management. This necessity is always assumed, but the
assumption is utterly illogical. The vocal organs adjust themselves for
the imitation of tone quality by exactly the same psychological
processes as for the imitation of pitch. Neither pitch nor tone quality
can be regulated in any other way than by the guidance of the ear.
Imitation furnishes the only means of acquiring the correct vocal
action. Several authorities on the voice admit the value of imitation,
even though they also make much of the mechanical doctrines of modern
methods. Sieber gives imitation as the best means of curing faults of
production. "The best means to free the student of the three forms of
faulty tone just described is possessed by that teacher who is able to
imitate these faults with his own voice." (_Vollständiges Lehrbuch der
Gesangskunst_, Ferd. Sieber, 1858.) Dr. Mills goes further and advocates
the imitating of finished singers for the purpose of acquiring the
correct vocal action. "The author would recommend all students who have
begun a serious practical study of the registers to hear, if possible,
some singer of eminence who observes register formation strictly."
(_Voice Production in Singing and Speaking_, Phila., 1906.) Kofler even
declares that imitation is an indispensable element of instruction. "It
is just as difficult or impossible to learn to sing good tones without
hearing the teacher's pure model tone as it is difficult or impossible
to learn to speak without hearing." (_The Art of Breathing_, Leo Kofler,
1889.)
If the correct vocal action is to be acquired by imitation, of what use
are the mechanical doctrines of vocal management? Kofler seeks to
combine these two forms of instruction. "Physiological theories must go
hand in hand with the musical ear or the law of imitation."
Scientifically considered, this attempted combination of mechanical
vocal training and instruction by imitation is an utter absurdity. There
is no possibility of connection between vocal imitation and mechanical
vocal management. Reliance on the imitative faculty involves the utter
rejection of the mechanical idea. Compromise, or combination of the two,
is a logical absurdity. Imitation and attempted mechanical management of
the voice are absolutely incompatible. Any attempt consciously to direct
the muscular workings of the vocal organs is an interference with the
normal action of the voice. So soon as conscious mechanical management
of the voice is attempted throat stiffness results, and the voice is
hampered in the exercise of its instinctive faculty of imitation. It is
impossible to acquire the correct vocal action by the application of
mechanical rules, because a consistent following of mechanical doctrines
utterly prevents the vocal organs from operating normally, even though
the student try at the same time to guide the voice by the sense of
hearing.
A close scrutiny of the practices of modern vocal teachers reveals
convincing evidence that all their successes are due to a reliance,
conscious or unconscious, on the imitative faculty. Teachers are as a
rule not aware of the appeal to the instinct of imitation; neither
indeed do the students usually pay much attention to this feature of
their lessons. Much of modern vocal instruction is dual in character.
When, for example, the teacher wishes to correct a marked fault in the
pupil's tone-production, he adopts this dual mode of imparting his
ideas. First, he explains to the pupil the (supposed) mechanical
operation; second, he imitates the pupil's faulty production and then
sings a correct tone to show how it should be produced.
For the teacher to sing the correct tone takes but a few seconds and
requires almost no thought. The mechanical explanation, on the other
hand, calls for much more of time, and of voluntary attention, from both
master and student. It thus follows that they both look upon the
mechanical rule as the important matter, and consider the teacher's
perfect tone as merely an illustration of the rule.
In most cases the student strives to apply the mechanical rule,
particularly in home practice between lessons. Under these circumstances
the voice does not respond satisfactorily. But it often happens that the
student pays little attention to the mechanical rule, and simply
imitates the teacher's voice. There being then nothing to interfere, the
student's voice naturally responds. The master ascribes this
satisfactory result to the application of the mechanical doctrine, while
in fact the result is due to the student's complete ignoring of the
doctrine.
Vocal imitation is often completely unconscious. Individuals vary
greatly, as regards the tendency to unconscious imitation. Of two
English lads coming to America at the age of fifteen, one may be found
ten years later to have entirely lost the English accent, the other may
retain it all his life. This difference in individual traits has much
to do with determining to what extent the vocal student may
unconsciously imitate correct models of singing. Other characteristics
are also influential in this regard. Some students so dislike to sing
mechanically that they neglect, in their home study, to practise their
exercises in the prescribed way. This is often due to an instinctive
abhorrence of harsh sounds. Other students are so gifted with the true
feeling for vocal melody that mechanical instruction makes no impression
on them.
As a general rule, the reliance on the imitative faculty in modern vocal
instruction is entirely unconscious on the part of both master and
pupil. Adherence to the mechanical idea excludes from the student's mind
all thought of any means of vocal guidance other than mechanical. This
is true, even in the most common form of instruction, imitation and
mechanical doctrine combined. As regards the master, his only conscious
exercise of the imitative faculty is the reproduction of the pupil's
faulty tones. He seldom thinks of telling the pupil to imitate his own
correctly produced tones.
Imitation supplies the only practical means for training voices. All the
elements of Voice Culture are combined in one simple process, when the
master sings correctly, and the student imitates the master. This
exercise of the imitative faculty may be made to suffice for both the
training of the ear and the cultivation of the voice. On practical, as
well as on scientific grounds, imitation is the only rational basis of a
method of Voice Culture.